A DRIVER facing trial for blowing his nose in his car last night told of his relief after the case was thrown out.

Michael Mancini was fined £60 and handed three penalty points by police for using a tissue while stuck in traffic.

He refused to pay and was facing trial. But the Record can reveal the case was binned after the procurator fiscal deemed it "ridiculous" and decided not to prosecute.

Dad-of-two Michael, 39, said: "I'm just pleased this whole business is over.

"I'm very relieved - it's been hellish.

I'd been waiting for a letter to tell me what might be happening next.

"Now I can hopefully just put this all behind me and move on."

Insiders revealed the fiscal refused to let it go to trial. Our source said: "If the police ever thought a prosecution like this was in the public interest, they are living on another planet.

"It's unbelievable the case even got as far as it did. It would have been a waste of time and money for everybody involved to let it go any further."

We told last month how furniture restorer Michael,of Prestwick, Ayrshire, was stunned when he was pulled over and given a fixed penalty notice for "not being in control of his vehicle".

He had been sitting in stationary traffic in Ayr last October when he blew his nose. Four cops stopped him and issued the fine and penalty points.

The cop who handed out the ticket was PC Stuart Gray, who has been dubbed PC Shiny Buttons for his zealous approach and attention to detail.

He was exposed last year after issuing a £50 fixed penalty to a man who dropped a £10 note in the street by mistake.

But Michael refused to accept his fine.

His lawyer, Peter Lockhart, wrote to the procurator fiscal saying it "beggars belief" that Michael was being prosecuted - and vowed to fight it all the way.

At first, prosecutors were adamant they would put Michael through trial at Ayr District Court.

But common sense has prevailed - even if it has upset police.

An insider told us: "The chief constable is thoroughly annoyed at the fiscal. By dropping the case, they have backed up Mancini's story.

"Senior Strathclyde officers are up-in-arms that the fiscal believed Mancini over their man.

"They would have claimed in court that Mancini was blowing his nose while steering the car with his elbows.

"Pc Gray claims he pulled him over for driving with no hands on the wheel and not being in control of the vehicle - not for blowing his nose. But the fiscal didn't buy it."

Our source hit back, claiming: "Even if the car was moving, it is still a desperately poor piece of judgment by police to prosecute. Even if you accept the police version of events, the fact is the car didn't crash, didn't break the speed limit, didn't cross the white lines and didn't mount the kerb.

"If the police think a prosecution like this was ever in the 'public interest', they are living on another planet."

A spokesman for Strathclyde Police said last night: "While it is a matter for the Crown to make the decision to prosecute, we are disappointed that our officers will not have the opportunity to give their side of the story in court."

A Crown Office spokesman said: "After further inquiry and careful consideration of all the facts and circumstances of this case, the procurator fiscal has decided that no further action is required."

We can reveal the decision to abandon the case was rubber-stamped by Ayrshire district fiscal Miriam Watson.